Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 71,927 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 17.8%, selling 71,927 shares during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.10% of Mosaic.
• Several analysts have increased their target prices for Mosaic, with JPMorgan Chase raising it from $29.00 to $35.00 and UBS upgrading the rating from "neutral" to "buy".
• The Mosaic Company reported $0.49 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates, but saw a 2.2% year-over-year revenue decline with total revenues of $2.62 billion.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,208 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 71,927 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.10% of Mosaic worth $8,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mosaic by 36.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 14,943 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 1.3% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Mosaic in the first quarter valued at about $1,119,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Mosaic by 19.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,275,000 after buying an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Mosaic by 12.8% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 23,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total value of $643,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE MOS traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,599,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,221,877. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.14 and a 200 day moving average of $30.77. The Mosaic Company has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $38.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 4.91%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Mosaic's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MOS shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.75.

About Mosaic

The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name.